Some like it hot, some hotter

-Thai native offers varying degrees of spiciness at restaurant.

-Thai native offers varying degrees of spiciness at restaurant.

December 26, 2005|JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA Even back in Bangkok, Bungon "Daeng" Kullayanavisut had considered opening her own restaurant. But it wasn't until decades later and a half a world away when friends and a professor at Indiana University South Bend gave her the push that it finally became a reality. The professor and friends had come to her home for dinner and parties, and they wondered, just where could they get such good food. The answer has been supplied the last 26 months at Christyann Street and East Russ Avenue in Mishawaka, just south of McKinley. There, Kullayanavisut operates her own authentic Thai restaurant ---- "Khun Daeng" ---- with the help of partner and chef Suthon "Tom" Sonjana. Kullayanavisut describes her food as "never boring" with "a lot of herbs in the ingredients. "It is very healthy and can prevent disease," she said. "It tastes just right to everyone. There is something for everybody." From curries, to recipes built around noodles, to tofu and vegetable dishes and various specialties with beef and chicken, Kullayanavisut aims to please with both reasonable prices and easily digested food. But if it's spice you want, she has multiple degrees of "hotness" available for the palate. She said her restaurant is doing "very well" now with sales increasing by the month. However, it's obvious after talking to her that behind the many tasty recipes is a long-tested one ---- hard work. Kullayanavisut came to America in 1987, a single mother of three children, ages 14, 13 and 9. America offered opportunity and a chance to get her children a better education, she said. A civil servant in Thailand, two of her brothers attended Ball State University, and a sister has resided in Elkhart since about 1970. Upon arrival, Kullayanavisut started working at a McDonald's in Elkhart, then received her nurse's assistant certificate and worked in nursing homes and hospitals while going to school at IUSB to become a dental assistant. There, the dream to open the restaurant rekindled with good timing, a business partner and a much-needed professorial push. The owners of the Vietnamese Restaurant that occupied 302 E. Russ Ave. offered to lease her the place. Then Sonjana agreed to be her partner. "He had a lot of experience and said he can do this business again," she said. The walls of the 65-seat restaurant are filled with Thai art and pictures of Thai food to further introduce it to the public. Newcomers visit, she said, and "tell me it's excellent and they will bring a friend and they keep bringing friends." College students come from Bethel, Notre Dame and IUSB, as well as other parts of Michiana. "It is unique," she said of her food, which is deep in color, mixing vegetables and rice with sauce and meat. "There is no comparison," Kullayanavisut said. "Any kind of age likes it. People bring their kids here. We have fresh food every day." Some of her food comes from Chicago; some is imported from Thailand. And she believes it takes a special chef to be true to the recipes. Sherry Huntley and her husband, Dexter, of Granger, have been going there ever since they hosted a foreign exchange student from Thailand, Pirada Muadsong. Sherry's even tried Thai food in Thailand, visiting Muadsong. "I told (Kullayanavisut) I thought her food was better than what we experienced there," Sherry said. "They use authentic Thai ingredients versus some places will use something similar you can find in America. They use authentic spices." But in the end, it seems, it all comes back to one thing for the woman who took a chance at a better life in the United States. "I believe ... you have to work hard to be a success," she said, stressing she always worked two jobs until she took on the restaurant. "You don't have to rely on people in power. If you do good, you can be on your own." Yes, she's proud of what she has accomplished by age 56. But she's also humble, willing to help others when the time arrives. "Whatever I have," she said. "I appreciate."Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6342